


As A Treat

by noahproblem



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Don't Try This At Home, It's only vaugely shippy, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24410809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noahproblem/pseuds/noahproblem
Summary: He met Richie’s eyes suddenly, and with an intensity that would normally make him squirm. “If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to. I just...I just thought it would be a nice closure. A small reward for a big task. I never let myself live, Richie, but that’s not your fault and if you’re uncomfortable, we don’t have to.”Richie sighed, resigned to his fate. “Eds, if this is what you want, I don’t think I could say no even if I wanted to.”
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 23





	As A Treat

**Author's Note:**

> I want to stress how bad of an idea this is to try at home. Don't do it. This is a work of fiction, not a guide on what to do. Eddie is my chaotic little dumb ass here, not a good example. Do not do this and then sue me, I am not liable for your decisions.

Richie flopped back on his too stiff bed and melted into it as if it were the most comfortable thing in the world. His mattress at home was clearly superior, but this was the one shitty hotel in all of Derry, and nothing about it had changed since the eighties. Not the plywood-esq mattress, nor the threadbare comforter, or the flat as absolute shit pillow; but after the past few days he’d had, nothing was more comfortable than this moth ball smelling, dusty, well-worn bed. 

Richie had already showered and brushed his teeth, and he had changed into an old band shirt and baggy sweats. It was only about 5pm, but he was exhausted after fighting a killer clown and an absolute batshit asswipe with a mullet with little to no sleep for the last few days. He could feel himself drifting off on top of the blankets and couldn’t bring himself to care enough to get under them.

Two curt knocks woke him.

Groaning, Richie rolled over onto his back. “Come in,” He called half heartedly. Though when the door opened, he sat up fast enough to make his head spin. “Eddie!”

Stepping into the room, Eddie took in the state of it. Richie had all his clothes piled in and around his duffle bag--none of them folded, Eddie noted with a little scrunch of his nose, but it wasn’t any more disheveled than he had been expecting. Growing up, Eddie’s room had always been immaculate, kept free from all dust, debris, and personality. He’d always been a little jealous of the more lived-in and messy state of Richie’s room in comparison, and especially of his posters. 

Band and movie posters lined Richie’s walls, so much so that you could barely see the wall paper underneath. Eddie had spent countless nights laying awake, mesmerized by the sheer amount and variety of content he was surrounded by. He always told himself that when he grew up, he would have a room like Richie’s, but when he lost his memory, he lost that piece of himself. Not that Myra would ever let him decorate their room like that, anyway. She threw a conniption fit when he’d framed and hung up a poster on his  _ office _ wall, claiming it would fall on Eddie and shatter. It was something they fought about for about a week, before Eddie relented and put the poster away in his closet. He wondered, briefly, if Richie’s room was still messy and wall-papered in posters and magazine cut-outs, and made a note to check should he be able to visit.

But that wasn’t why he was here.

Wordlessly, Eddie strode over to Richie, pushing his long legs out of the way so he could sit next to him. Eddie stared at the ugly carpeting of the room for a long minute, wringing his hands, unsure of how to ask for what he wanted.

“Eddie?” Richie asked, hesitating a moment before placing a hand on Eddie’s knee, not daring to go any higher. He seriously doubted a hand on Eddie’s thigh would tip the other man off on his life-long crush on him, but there was a small, very loud part of him that screamed for Richie to never give an inch. He’d promised himself after the first time they’d defeated It that he wouldn’t live a closeted life forever, but, well, life happened and he’d accidentally made a living off being a closet case.

Sighing longfully, Eddie steeled himself. “Richie, I...I need to ask you to do something for me.”

Richie’s heart beat just about out his chest, so loud he worried Eddie might hear with how close they were sitting. He resisted the urge to tell Eddie he would do anything for him, and instead opted for a more casual “What’s up, Eds?”

Instead of answering with words, Eddie reached into his pocket, grabbing something before turning over Richie’s hand on his knee, depositing the item into Richie’s much larger palm.

When Eddie pulled away, and Richie could clearly see what he’d just been handed, he was initially a little confused. He knew what it was, but why..? Then a memory flooded back to him. He looked at Eddie, wide-eyed and bewildered. “Eds. Eddie...no.”

Eddie chuckled, a little dry but not without humor. “I have to, Richie. I don’t have a choice.”

* * *

Richie rubbed at the gauze and bandage covering his palm. The wound there still hurt, which didn’t really surprise him, but he hadn’t expected it to  _ itch _ this much. Eddie slapped his other hand away, the way he always did when he caught Richie doing this. He expected a lecture on not reopening the cut, on how it itched because it was healing, on anything and everything, really.

He didn’t expect the silence, but that’s what he got.

“Eddie?”

Eddie’s head snapped up to look at him with those big, brown eyes that Richie never thought he could get enough of. They were sat in Richie’s room, having just finished their homework. It had been about a week and a half since they defeated Pennywise, and as much as it was life changing, as much as they had grown together, things were surprisingly normal. They were all more confident, in themselves and each other, but at the end of the day they were still twelve. School was still there on Monday and homework and chores waited for no man.

“Richie,” Eddie started, then looked as though he would abandon his next words. Richie wanted to assure him that nothing he could say would be more than he could handle. He knew that no matter what happened, they would have each other at the end of the day. Even if Eddie’s mom really did follow through on her many and frequent threats to lock him away forever, to keep him from the Losers, that they would find a way to see each other. It turned out that he didn’t need to, however, as Eddie found his voice once more. “Can I ask you to do something for me?”

Richie was sure his need to serve and impress Eddie would never fade, but he was also sure he could never say as much. Instead he did what he did best. “The great and powerful Eddie Spaghetti needs my help? Gasp!”

“Don’t be an ass about it,” Eddie snapped, then just as quickly his face fell to something more soft. “I… I’ve been thinking. About how we...how all of us faced our fears. And how I want to keep facing those fears.”

“Eddie?” Richie knew Eddie wasn’t about to confess to him rationally, but that didn’t stop him from wishing. Still, he knew that whatever Eddie was about to do would be important, and that it was his duty to support Eddie in this. “What do you need?”

Eddie smiled some at that, and Richie knew that no matter what Eddie needed he would do it. The smaller boy reached into a pocket on his shorts, and Richie knew the contents of that pocket. He held onto it for a moment, just staring at it, before handing it to Richie.

“Your Epipen?” Richie asked, but that was undeniably what it was. Eddie’s mom had insisted that Richie, Bill, and Stan were all well versed on where to find and how to use Eddie’s Epipen, should he ever accidentally be exposed to one of his more serious allergies.

“I considered doing this myself, but...I think it would be safer if I asked for help, and--” Eddie stopped himself from finishing that thought. If Richie knew he wanted to share this with him specifically, Eddie would never hear the end of it. “I just. I’ve always been so scared to try anything. Especially things that I’m allergic to, which is a lot.”

“Yeah, Eds, I know. I have a list somewhere.” Eddie’s mom had included a list of his allergies with the Epipen training. Richie mostly dismissed it, but had memorized the more common ones.

Eddie laughed a little. “You still have that? God, I thought everyone had thrown that out at the first chance they got.”

Richie shrugged dismissively, a devilish look taking over. “So, what are we trying today? Gonna go tromp in some poison ivy? Stick your hand in a beehive?”

With a frown and a shake of his head, Eddie reached into another pocket. “No, nothing like that. I, uh,” Eddie pulled his hand out, now holding a package of candy. “I want to try a Reese's.”

Richie resisted the urge to howl with laughter. On the surface, this seemed like such a small step, but Richie knew that this was important to Eddie. “An excellent choice,” Richie nodded instead.

With a wide smile Eddie opened the package in the most delicate way Richie had ever seen someone open candy. He slid the two cups into his palm, the chocolates almost too big for his little hand. Eddie handed one to Richie, and they clinked them together as if they were a fine wine, before Richie took a bite of his and Eddie devoured his whole.

* * *

Eddie pulled a candy from his other pocket, and Richie knew without looking that it was another fucking Reese's. When they were kids, this had seemed like a fun adventure. But now he was older, with more knowledge on how allergies worked. This was dangerous, and it wasn’t good for Eddie to be exposing himself to an allergen he could literally die from. “What do you mean you ‘don’t have a choice’? This is like, possibly the dumbest thing you could do.”

Pouting in a way that Richie knew meant that Eddie would be getting his way, he defended himself. “Well, I figure it’s kind of tradition now. Besides, I…” Eddie fiddled with the packaging. Not opening it, but turning it over in his hands. Richie remembered how big the Reese's had looked in Eddie’s hands before, and he could barely contain himself at how big his hands had gotten. His little Eddie was so big now, even if he was still the shortest among them. “I know how good they are now, Richie. I got my memories back, and after everything was said and done all I could think about was how much I want to try them again.” Eddie spoke fast, not looking at Richie. He met Richie’s eyes suddenly, and with an intensity that would normally make him squirm. “If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to. I just...I just thought it would be a nice closure. A small reward for a big task. I never let myself live, Richie, but that’s not your fault and if you’re uncomfortable, we don’t have to.”

Richie sighed, resigned to his fate. “Eds, if this is what you want, I don’t think I could say no even if I wanted to.”

Eddie smiled brightly, still careful with the wrapper as he opened it. Some things would never change, Richie thought as he was handed a Reese's. He held his up, and instinctively Eddie tapped his own against it. “Thank you,” Eddie practically whispered, and then shoved the whole treat in his mouth.

Waiting for him to swallow, Richie uncapped the Epipen, then jabbed it against Eddie’s thigh and held it there for a solid ten seconds before carefully removing it. When his task was done, he rewarded himself with his own Reese's.

“So, uh, feel free to say no if it makes you uncomfortable,” Eddie rubbed at the spot he’d been stabbed with the needle, not meeting Richie’s eyes. “But, you know, allergies can worsen with age and exposure, and, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to stay in your room tonight? Just to make sure I don’t need to actually go to the hospital.”

Richie beamed at the prospect. “Anything for you, Eds.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based on a Real Thing I was told about, and again, was a Very Bad Idea. So naturally I wrote about Eddie doing it twice.  
> I want to also say that while my description on how to use an Epipen is accurate (I was trained in first aid), it is not a guide. Please look up actual instructions.  
> And, as always, my writing is influenced by but not adhering to canon. Please do not comment telling me I got something wrong. I write for fun not accuracy.


End file.
